The present invention relates to a communication system for use in a coaxial cable data transmission system such as in a hotel/motel between a central processor and a remote terminal located in each of a plurality of customer rooms. Specifically, the system has an in-room polling link with request to speak to the head end. It also includes an in-line monitoring device located in the central processor and inserted in the communication line between the central processor and the remote terminals in remote locations such as in a plurality of hotel/motel rooms. The monitoring device measures selected signal parameter data representing the quality of each of the signals transmitted by the remote terminal, which may be an in-room controller, to the head end. Further, the system includes a control center remote from the central processor and coupled to a telephone modem external of the central processor for generating interrogation signals to the central processor to access stored data representing each of the transmitted remote location signals so that the remote controller signals may be reviewed remotely for content and quality to assist maintenance purposes. While the present system is useful for any coaxial cable data transmission system, it will be discussed in relation to a hotel/motel system for ease of explanation.
There are many different systems for communicating between rooms of a hotel/motel and a centrally located processor for transmitting to and receiving signals from a hotel/motel room to govern transmission of TV programs, display of messages on the room television and reception of data from the rooms representing conditions of various room appliances such as a safe, refrigerator, and the like.
Bi-lateral signaling systems, used in hotel/motel and/or apartment complexes or the like, communicate television signals from a head end to a plurality of rooms having TV apparatus therein and permit a bi-lateral data exchange between the head-end and each room apparatus. The head-end and the rooms are connected via a common coaxial cable which may typically be the master antenna television video (MATV) signal distribution cable in such hotel or analogous environment to distribute video programming from a master antenna and/or other head-end video source. In addition, it is common to supplement the available video signals with premium programs for which a fee is charged. Such programs may comprise recently released films, sporting events not available on commercial television, or the like. Such premium programs are transmitted in the form of a frequency spectrum which cannot be received by a standard television set.
To permit reception of such premium television signals, each room is provided with a video frequency converter which converts the frequency spectrum of a selected premium video signal to the VHF frequency band of a standard channel thus rendering the premium signal receivable by the standard television set located in the room.
In addition, the head-end may be employed to send data messages to the room apparatus to control various power loads in the room for energy conservation purposes such as issuing data messages to turn electrical loads on or off including air-conditioning, heater and the like. Further, such systems are used to monitor and/or control access, indicate maid status, detecting presence of equipment, and the like, thus keeping track of events occurring in a particular room.
Several problems are associated with such prior art systems. Many such problems occur because each of the appliances to be monitored in a room must be monitored sequentially by the head-end central processor in order to check all room appliances. It can be seen that with a large number of rooms, i.e. 1,000 or more, even with very fast computers, the computer may be delayed with this sequential monitoring in detecting an important event occurring in a room.
A second problem relates to the quality of the signal being transmitted from each room. Signal quality as used herein is defined as signal level, signal frequency and signal frequency deviation. Because the electronic devices such as amplifiers which are contained in each room may fail from time to time, the signal level, frequency, or deviation may vary to such extent that the data being received is inaccurate or entirely missing. The prior art solves this problem by placing a plurality of line monitoring devices at various positions along the system. Thus one monitor may be coupled to several rooms and can generate an alarm if one of the signals from a room to which a particular monitor is connected deviates from prescribed norms. However, each of these monitoring units is identified by a unique address. Thus to determine conditions throughout the system, a central monitoring system transmits polling signals on the cables with particular addresses contained within the signals. If a particular address matches with a pre-stored identifying address in a monitoring terminal, the monitor responds by transmitting data produced by the monitoring units back to the central facility.
Finally, technicians must be kept at each central facility to detect any warning signals that are generated which indicate that problems exist on the line. They can then examine the lines and determine the equipment which is malfunctioning and replace it.
The present system overcomes these disadvantages by providing an appliance interface controller (AIC) coupled to each appliance to be monitored in a particular room which can detect signals from sensors on the appliance and store those signals representing the condition of the appliance in its memory. In addition, a remote terminal such as an in-room controller (IRC) is coupled to each of the appliance interface controllers and polls them on a periodic basis to determine the status of the appliances. Should a change in the appliance condition occur, the AIC will notify the in-room controller which will either request communication with the central processor or wait until the central processor polls that particular room. The IRC then provides a response signal to the central processor where it is stored.
Secondly, the present invention utilizes a signal monitoring unit formed as part of the central processor which intercepts all signals from all in-room controllers communicating with the central processor and monitors the signal level, the frequency and the frequency deviation. The output of the in-line monitor is then converted to a digital signal and stored in the central processor memory to produce warning signals so that technicians can identify the room and correct the problems that occur with the signals from that room.
Thirdly, the present invention utilizes a telephone modem coupled to the computer in the central processor to request access to the memory banks so that from long distances, the condition of the communication system with the various rooms can be examined and, if problems are indicated, a technician can be called to search out and correct the problem. Thus one individual can monitor a large number of different site locations by telephone from a remote distance eliminating the need for constant supervision by personnel at the site where the central processors are located. In addition, any other data stored in the hotel central processor could be accessed for statistical purposes such as marketing. For instance, it may be important to know what TV channels were activated or what pay movies were viewed in the room.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a single line monitoring device for a communications system between a central processor and a plurality of remote terminals wherein the line monitoring device is located in the central processor to measure selected parameter data representing the quality of each transmission signal received from each remote terminal by the central processor and store such data in the central processor memory.
It is a further object of the present invention to enable telephone communications with the central processor from a control center remote from the central processor and coupled to the central processor through a telephone modem. The remote control center utilizes telephone lines for generating interrogation signals to a computer in the central processor to access the computer storage and recover data representing content such as statistical data for various purposes or the quality of the transmitted signals from remote terminals, such as the in-room controller, so that the data content and quality of each of the response signals from the remote terminals may be reviewed remotely for maintenance purposes.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a communication system for use in a hotel/motel wherein each room has an appliance interface controller coupled to each appliance, and an in-room controller coupled to each appliance interface controller for periodically polling each of the appliance interface controllers to determine the condition of a particular appliance. The in-room controller can then transmit the condition of any appliance to a central processor.